Tattered Dreams
by fat1236
Summary: Selena is the odd-job girl who can do everything and anything. Whilst to the world she appears to be perfect, after their troubled love life Arthur knows better than anyone else that she has one major, dangerous flaw. ArthurXOC
1. Chapter 1

_Hi everyone, so whilst this isn't my first fanfiction it is my first one for inception...so please be kind! I wanted to reveal the big thing in the little description thing, but I decided then there'd be no point in writing the story! Please stick with me, the first few chapters are never very good until you get really into the plot...please review, reviews make me happy! Enjoy!_

"I'm sorry Arthur but it can't be helped. You know she's the best one for the job." Dom whispered to Arthur as the seven-seater taxi left the airport. Ariadne was squashed into the two back seats with Eames whilst Arthur, Cobb and Yusuf were in front of them and Mr Saito sat in the front with the driver. Ariadne watched the exchange between the two with wide eyes. She had refrained from asking any questions when Arthur reacted violently by throwing a chair at the wall in the loft when Cobb had told the team they were going to England to pick up one final person; a woman called Selena Ezili, but watching Arthur's tense and angry face now she could not help herself as she leant forwards and asked Cobb in a stage whisper who this woman was. The only other team member who seemed to be in the dark about her was Yusuf.

A long silence followed her question until Eames finally answered her after chucking his cigarette out of the open taxi window.

"Selena Ezili is an odd-job girl." He said lazily, taking out another cigarette. "She can do just about everything...the reason dear Arthur is so uptight about her is because he's in love with her." Arthur turned around in his seat, his face contorted in anger at Eames' flippant approach to his private life.

"That's enough Eames." Cobb said, holding up a hand to stop Arthur's rage. After a final glare at Eames, who was smirking away as he lit his eighth cigarette of the day, Arthur turned back around, his body still tense and stressed.

Eames continued as though nothing had happened, "She can do everything and anything...make bombs, build guns...she can stand in as a point woman, do a bit of forgery and she's not at all bad at architecture... "She has degrees in medicine and psychiatry, she can hold an intelligent conversation about anything, she can sing, dance and act, plays 5 musical instruments and speaks 8 different languages fluently. Every single person that meets her describes her as the most beautiful woman they know, and to top it all, she's a nice person." Eames said with a grin.

There was silence in the taxi as everyone thought through the sheer amount of Selena's abilities.

"That's impossible. No 24 year old can do so much." Ariadne muttered, both jealous and embarrassed that she was the same age as the woman and was only good at architecture.

"Mmm..." Eames was too busy taking another drag of his cigarette to reply immediately. "Selena can. She's every man's fantasy because she comes across as delicate and helpless, but if you're looking for it you can see that she's one of the strongest people you'll ever meet...Why she chose Arthur no-one will ever know." Eames finished his description of Selena and Ariadne realised that it was not just Selena who was smart; Eames too had just shown himself to have great insight into people. Arthur instantly spun in his seat and attempted to reach for Eames angrily, but Cobb held him back.

"She has one fatal flaw though that - " Eames was interrupted by Arthur's roar that was so furious it terrified Ariadne. The whole concept of Arthur losing control terrified her for he was always so calm, co collected.

"Thornside Theatre. That's £20." The taxi driver interrupted, the taxi sliding to a halt and Arthur's attack on Eames stopped. Mr Saito paid the man and Cobb ushered Arthur out of the taxi before he could harm Eames.

As Ariadne climbed out of the taxi she looked at Arthur and Eames as they exchanged a warning look and she realised that they were holding back something big, something major.

"She'll find out anyway." She heard Eames mutter almost sulkily.

The theatre was a large building with glass front doors through which the team could see the plush interior that imitated the theatre decor of the 1950's.

Strands of hauntingly quiet music gradually reached them all before changing tempo and volume. Cobb looked at Arthur expectantly.

"She's here." Arthur whispered.

"How do you know?" Ariadne asked from beside him.

"This is one of her favourite pieces of music." He replied, leading the way up the steps. As they opened the door the music intensified, gradually getting louder and louder as they approached the entrance to the stage. It was so loud Ariadne was sure she could see the framed posters on the walls vibrating and her heartbeat was painfully joining with the beat of the music.

Arthur opened the door and the 6 filed slowly into the dark auditorium that was lit only by bright lights hidden behind a screen at the back of the stage. In front of it was a group of people, their bodies all entwined and nothing but a dark shadow. The music intensified again and the body of people began to rise and fall as though the creature they had created was breathing. After three up and down breaths it went up and down in a circle, alternating which direction it went in three times again. The music gave a jolt and a woman who had been at the top of the creature sat up suddenly, only her outline visible.

The music suddenly developed a fast dance beat whilst the eerie music still continued over the top of it and the woman stood up and jumped off the tangled bodies, making a magnificent arc as she seemed to hang in the air for a moment. Lights suddenly came on and shone down as the creature separated in 5 other people who all spread out around the stage and started their own dance. Ariadne's eyes were drawn to the girl at the centre of the stage who'd started the separation and she knew instantly that this was Selena.

Selena arched her back impressively before swinging her hair around wildly for a few counts. Next she did a sextuple pirouette and then slid to the floor suggestively, using her hands to push herself backwards before flipping over and arching her back, pulling herself into a sitting position using only her stomach muscles. One of the men stood in front of her and the two reached for each other with their arms crossed over. Holding onto each other's hands he pulled her from the floor and she did the splits around him in mid air before using her legs to grasp onto his torso as he swooped her down in a slow arc. Next the two walked around each other, each with a hand on the others face in an intimate and romantic pose until Serena's partner put his hands on her lower back and lifted her high above his head until one of the dancers stopped and pointed at the team.

"Hey! You can't be here!" He shouted. The person in the box turned on the house lights and the team were almost blinded in the sudden brightness.

"What are you doing here?" Selena's dance partner asked hostilely, gently putting her down.

"It's alright!" Selena said, holding up her hands to her team of dancers. There was something nice about her voice. It was smooth enough to put you at ease, but strong enough to make you listen. She was well spoken – Ariadne had expected nothing less; and now that the lights were on she could see Selena for the beauty everyone claimed her to be. "They're here to see me..." Selena said, sliding off the stage gracefully.

She walked towards the group with a raised eyebrow, but as she neared them a grin broke out on her face as she focused on Cobb.

"Dom Cobb. The only man in the world I can't seduce." She said teasingly. The two embraced and Ariadne was surprised to see even Cobb smiling with a genuine happiness.

"How are you, Selena?"

"I'm ok thanks. How are the children? I went to see them last month..." She trailed off, looking up at him with concern in her eyes.

"Then you'll know more than me." He said; his usual sad and haunted look back in his eyes.

"But I get the feeling you'll be seeing them soon..." She said; her tone suggestive and questioning.

Cobb gave a smile. "Yes, indeed. If I do this one job I'll be able to go back home."

"And I suppose you want me on your team?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"Why don't you ever visit me as a friend? Why is it always work with you?" She moaned playfully, patting his chest and shaking her head at him. "So, this must be your team...?" She started to walk down the line that they'd formed with an interested eye.

"You look like an architect." She said, smiling kindly at Ariadne who could only nod, dumbfounded. "I can tell by the calculating and analysing look you all have..."

Ariadne hadn't been aware of a certain look that she had, but she was right now assessing Selena's appearance and could only agree with Eames' earlier words that she was the most beautiful woman she'd ever met. She was a slim woman but she still had curves that seemed extreme. Ariadne knew that the ideal ratio for a woman's waist-hips was 0.7, but Selena's waist was definitely smaller than the ideal ratio and she even looked great in her leotard and shorts. She wore no make-up, but her eyelashes were longer than those of models in many mascara adverts, even the ones who had lash inserts. Her eyes were huge and a chocolate brown colour and she had a way of holding her body that seemed to draw you in too her, like a magnetic pull. Her skin was tanned and unblemished and she had a dainty nose, mouth and chin that would've given her the appearance of a child if she did not have cheekbones. Her hair fell in layers to below her waist with each layer curling slightly in a different direction at the end. It was shiny and glossy to the extreme and was the same chocolate brown as her eyes.

Ariadne had felt her guard immediately rise at the sight of Selena, but now that she had seen her up close she felt the cold hands of jealousy enfold her.

"Mr Saito." Ariadne was pulled out of her evaluation when Selena stepped in front of the oriental man who stood very rigid and poised in front of her.

"Miss Ezili. You are a very hard woman to find." He stated with a raised eyebrow.

"And you make it too obvious you're looking for me." She retaliated with a smirk.

She moved on, "Eames." The forger simply smiled at Selena and kissed the back of her hand suavely. Selena rolled her eyes and stepped away from him, next encountering Yusuf who was gazing at her stupidly with his mouth hanging open slightly. Selena burst into tinkling laughter as she saw his face.

"That expression never gets old!" She exclaimed. She widened her eyes to great effect and pouted slightly at Yusuf. "And what's your name?" Her voice had taken on a sweet and innocent tone and Yusuf's eyes glazed over.

"That's enough, Serena!" Selena snapped her gaze to Arthur's at his annoyed tone.

"What's the matter Arthur? Don't you like me flirting with other men?" She waited for his answer with an eyebrow cocked; her tone scathing. He didn't reply but simply stared at her with his strange, half wistful, half reproachful eyes. She turned on her heel and stalked away from him with her head held high though her expression was tense.

"So why are you here Cobb?"

"You know exactly why I'm here." The older man replied.

Serena suppressed a smile, "I do indeed, and I feel you should know that your journey has been futile..."

"Has it really? Surely you of all people don't think it's impossible?"

"No, I know it's not. It's very difficult, yes, but I've done it before..."

"Who'd you do it to?" Cobb immediately demanded.

Selena gave him a beautiful crooked smile. "You know how Take That recently got back together with Robbie? Yeah...well I was part of the team that worked on Gary Barlow." She said with a slight hint of smugness.

"Seriously...that's it? You managed to perform inception...and made Take That get back together?" Eames asked in disbelief, struggling to keep the smile off his face.

Selena gave a false huff of annoyance at him. "You'd be surprised how much someone would pay for their reunion...and at least our idea took! Yours failed!" She teased Eames, raising an eyebrow in what was meant to be playfulness but was simply stunning. "Anyway, I no longer do dream work." She said as the team watched the two interact with bated breath.

"So you won't join us, even for inception?" Cobb asked, raising an eyebrow disbelievingly at her.

"Why should I waste my energy?" She asked him, turning away and walking back towards the stage before he tried to answer a question she had meant to be rhetorical. "I have a show to put on!" She called over her shoulder at them flippantly.

"Because you're bored." Cobb called out to her diminishing figure. She spun around to face him and took a few steps back.

"She's not really like this; it's what she's like when she's trying to disguise the fact that she's nervous. Probably because it's the first time she's seen Arthur since they broke up." Eames whispered to Ariadne.

"Dance is my passion. How can I be bored?"

"Because you need some danger in your life." Selena glanced over her shoulder quickly to make sure none of her dance group were listening, realising that they all were she walked back to Cobb and spoke in a much quieter voice.

"I got out in time. I can still go to sleep at night and have dreams that are my own, dreams that my subconscious creates, not an architect!" She said in a stage whisper, her tone challenging and defensive.

"But do you want to be in those dreams?" Cobb asked. "There's a fine line between dreams and nightmares."

"And what do you know about nightmares, Cobb? You can't dream anymore!" The friendly greeting that the two had shared was forgotten as they challenged each other.

"You forget that my real life is a nightmare." Selena's gaze softened slightly as she realised that he was right; his family had been his world and they had all been wrenched away from him by one tragic event. "Your despair isn't as great as mine." Her gaze hardened again at his whispered words that were only overheard by Ariadne and Saito and she turned and walked away quickly, her posture rigid.

"Seven." Cobb called out after her. She stopped again and slowly turned around to face him.

"Are you serious?" She asked; her tone disbelieving. Her mouth hung open slightly and she looked awestruck.

Cobb nodded and took a slow and confident step towards her. "Seven million. Each."

Selena looked away for a moment as she seriously contemplated the offer. "Alright, I'm in." She said with a sudden smile. Ariadne could not help shooting a glance at Arthur who simply shook his head and closed his eyes in despair at her three damning words.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi everyone, thanks for the reviews! As I said before, that was only the first chapter and this is only the second, I'm still setting out the scene and base etc, please stay with me; I promise I'll get into the proper plot soon! Anyway, please review again, I do appreciate constructive criticism because I'm always looking to improve my writing, but please no flame. It's pointless. Anyway, enjoy! _

"Arthur." Cobb called out as he walked into the loft. "Arthur..I've got bad news."

Arthur stared at Cobb as he waited for the older man to continue. He knew it'd be about Selena. Any bad news for him concerned Selena.

"I've had to book Selena into the same hotel as you and Ariadne. Everywhere else is booked for conference week." He said apologetically, warily watching Arthur from a safe distance.

Arthur held his head in his hands for a moment as he processed Cobb's words, then he suddenly jumped up and slammed his hand on the table in front of him, sending his drink smashing to the floor and his notes flying in a snowstorm of white paper around him. "Damn it Cobb!" He roared, his face reddening in anger. "Why are you doing this? I left her for a reason! I left her for - " He was inches from Dom's face at this point, pointing at him accusingly as his shouts echoed through the loft and stopped everyone's work.

"I know!" Cobb screamed back, interrupting Arthur's flow of anger. The point man walked away for a moment, his hands running through his slicked back hair as he tried to calm himself down. "I know it's for her own safety." Cobb said quietly, the sympathy in his voice unmistakeable. "I'm sorry Arthur, but I had no other choice. You say you left her for her own safety...well your hotel has the best security around. She'll be safer there than anywhere else..." Cobb explained rationally, almost pleading with Arthur as he tried to make him accept the situation.

Arthur looked up at him for a moment, his brow still furrowed in anger. With a shake of his head and a miserable contortion of his mouth he shoved the rest of his notes off the table in his temper and walked hurriedly out of the loft as several faces peeked nosily out of the lofts different compartments.

He didn't return to the loft that day and he didn't continue with his research into Fischer's background. Instead he bought a bottle of gin, a packet of cigarettes and hired a small boat and rowed out into the middle of the Lac des Minimes. Settling down at the bottom of the tiny wooden thing he downed some of the gin and lit a cigarette, lying back down and staring at the cloudless sky absentmindedly.

She was already having a bad effect on him.

He'd wanted to clear his head, but now that he was alone and could think he suddenly discovered that he really, really didn't want to think about her, and yet, she was the only thing he could think about.

When he returned to the hotel that night he was very drunk. By 9 o'clock he was lying flat out on his bed with good and bad memories of Selena swimming through his mind until he eventually fell unconscious.

The next morning he walked into the dining room tentatively, his gaze flicking cautiously from table to table as he searched for Selena. After a moment he spied Ariadne tucked away in a corner, her focus on the newspaper in front of her.

Sticking to the rules he picked a table on the other side of the room and pretended he didn't know her, asking a passing waiter for a pot of strong black coffee, a croissant and the day's paper. He'd woken up during the night with a pounding headache and a dry as ash throat, but once he'd downed a bottle of water from the mini-bar he felt significantly better and had just fallen asleep again, mercifully waking up without too many of the adverse side-effects of alcohol.

He almost spilt his coffee all over himself and his paper when Selena walked through the door on the arm of another man.

He was tall and dark whilst she was small and dark. They looked like a perfectly matched couple; well-dressed, rich and handsome.

He stared outright as did many of the other hotel guests, but the two who had suddenly become the centre of attention were oblivious to it all; obviously so used to it that they'd perfected the art of completely ignoring everyone's stares.

Arthur couldn't tell if she was as instantly magnetic as she'd been six years ago when they'd for met, for it was different for him. She hadn't changed physically at all since he'd last seen her two years ago on that fateful day and he glanced around quickly, noticing men staring wide-eyed, forks frozen halfway to their mouths, their wives sitting opposite them being completely ignored.

Jealousy surged within him. She'd once been his completely. But no more.

She and her _partner_ sat down at a table that was relatively distant from his and he breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been steeling his expression, the look in his eyes just in case they mistakenly made eye-contact; she didn't need to know about his current internal struggle between staying exactly where he was and flying across the room to rip the head off the other man. His struggle not to take out his gun and shoot off the arm hers had been tucked into, or to punch off the stupid goofy smile he wore.

Arthur left when the two began to give their order to an eager waiter, unwilling to be seen. He took the slightly longer route to the door, weaving in and out of tables and walking with a calm confidence, a sense of purpose that he knew would not attract attention to him.

But when he reached his room he leant back against the door, his head clasped in his hands and his brow deeply furrowed in concentration as he tried to get a grip of himself.

He knew her so well. She'd order her usual fruit salad with a cup of tea – two sugars and lots of milk – in true English style.

Walking into his bathroom he splashed just a little cold water onto his cheeks and leant on the marble sideboard, staring into the mirror above him, unable to help but compare himself to the other man.

Her smile hadn't been real. She wasn't happy with the stupidly muscled buffoon she was sitting with. He knew her so well.

With a grunt of anger at himself he turned away from the mirror and paced restlessly around the room. He didn't want to go to work yet. His mind was too busy, too full of her and his irrational hatred of the other man.

He didn't even know his name and yet he wanted to kill him.

He gave a growl of frustration and collapsed back on the bed, his finger tips pushing hard against his closed eyelids as though he hoped that this would stop him seeing the images of her that had been imprinted on the inside of his eyelids long ago.

After an age he left his room, finally ready to face working with her all day, but as he passed the now-empty dining room he was halted by a familiar piece of music. The soulful singing was unmistakable and he knew that if he went into the cleared room he'd find her dancing. Torn between his desires and rationality he peeked through the open doorway and sure enough he saw Selena dancing in a dress that looked like a flowing river as she reached one way and leant the other.

He couldn't help but stare and be completely entranced as he was given a private viewing of his favourite style of all her dancing. He preferred the fluid lyrical movements that told an expressive story; he saw it as a true piece of art.

As the music ended she fell dramatically to the floor, finally seeing him standing in the doorway.

"Oh! Arthur!" She exclaimed, sitting up suddenly before awkwardly looking away and dusting off her dress. "I didn't realise you were in this hotel too." He was silent, trying to find something to say that would not betray his feelings. "Just doing a dress run...I'm performing tonight for a private party..." She told him uneasily, trying to fill the silence before taking a swig from a nearby water bottle.

"What kind of private party?" Arthur immediately asked without thinking. He bit his tongue as he realised what he'd said. He was supposed to be distancing himself as much as possible from Selena, not caring about her life.

"The kind of party that'll have the Duke of York there." She replied with a raised eyebrow after a moment's hesitation.

Arthur tore his eyes from her form; he'd been stupid to assume it would be _that _kind of private party.

He was no longer responsible for her.

"You should make your way to the loft. Cobb will want to give you all the information." He said shortly, turning and walking away quickly, able to feel her eyes on his back.

He was no longer responsible for her.

But that didn't change how he felt for her.


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks for the reviews everyone, please do so again! So, who had good exam results over the last couple of weeks? Enjoy!_

"Wake me up before they tear me apart." Selena ordered Dom as the two walked along a river bank in Dom's subconscious. "Your children are ok by the way. They do of course miss you, but they're ok."

A projection stared hard at Selena as they walked past and she pulled a comical face at them childishly.

"Are they much bigger?" He asked quietly.

"Not too much. James' hair is longer though! It'll be the same as Lily's soon..." Dom gave a chuckle.

"He always preferred it longer. And what about Lily? Did she like the dolls I sent her?"

"Of course! She showed them to me, and the little dress you sent her!" Dom couldn't help smiling. The topic area of his children was heart breaking for him but Selena seemed so genuinely happy as she talked about them that he couldn't help but feel happier. "There's Mal..." Selena said, pointing to the other side of the river where Mal was sitting serenely on a bench. "You told me you'd move on, Cobb!" She accused him quietly. "You don't want to ruin your memories of her by having her projection jeopardise every job you do."

"I'm working on it." He muttered. After gazing at Mal for a moment he walked on, forcing Selena to follow him. "Anyway, you're one to talk about moving on! Everyone saw how you looked at Arthur. And how he looked back at you." He teased, a smile playing at the corners of his downturned mouth. Selena was one of the few people who could make him smile; it was not something she did intentionally but her childish nature amused him rather than irked him as it would if she were anyone else.

"Arthur is in my past." She said gently, in such a way that Cobb knew she'd had to tell many people exactly the same thing over and over again. He watched as she picked a leaf from a tree they passed and shredded it in her fingers.

"Mmm...you really act like it." He teased after a moment's silence.

"Look, Cobb. He ended it and there's nothing I can do about it!" She said, still completely calm.

"The only time I've seen him happy is when he was with you!" Cobb was pushing, waiting to see the temperamental and childish temper she'd still had when he'd seen her just a year ago.

"Well...evidently he wasn't happy enough." Selena told him, shredding another newly picked leaf as the two came to the end of the river bank. They climbed a few stairs until they reached the main road that was full of heaving traffic and bustling projections. Every projection around them turned and stared at Selena who grew uncomfortable as a few of them bashed into her shoulders aggressively.

"Your subconscious has sped up." She commented, pulling a funny face at a man who stopped behind her, starting the pile up of staring projections. "I've never known anyone locate an intruder so quickly."

"Except you." Cobb answered shortly.

Selena pulled a face at him as he reminded her of her own abilities. "Yes, but I'm not anyone."

A projection grabbed her and she gave a scream automatically as more hands grasped her all over her body. In her line of work, she'd grown accustomed to overzealous men grabbing at her and was used to loudly screaming immediately; it'd become an automatic response.

Cobb pulled out a gun and shot her in the head before the projections could painfully tear her apart, making her jolt up in the real world with a loud gasp that made Arthur run to her side instinctively. He crouched down by her chair and looked up into her face.

"You okay?" She nodded and hid her face in her shaking hands, her breathing irregular as she attempted to calm herself down.

"Just...it's just been a while since I've been shot." She exclaimed shakily as Cobb came round on the chaise next to her.

"You alright?" He asked. Arthur stood up quickly and walked away, trying to quietly move his laptop from the table in front of them to the table behind them that he'd originally been working on. He'd moved so that he'd have a chance to gaze at Selena's face whilst she was asleep like he used to. Back when she'd been happy and her expression had been filled with joy and love whenever she looked at him, not the sadness and anger he saw now.

"Yes." She replied quickly, visibly shaking some sense into herself. "You ready yet, Mr Saito?" She called out, her English accent a stark contrast to Arthur and Cobb's American ones.

"Long ago." Saito replied in his own heavy accent. He clicked his fingers and his most trusted (and largest) bodyguard, known simply as Chen, dragged over the body of Hin Yeun, one of Saito's least trusted body guards.

She settled back against the lounger and closed her eyes momentarily. She was still getting over the jetlag and, no matter how long you slept whilst working, it wasn't proper sleep. Cobb started to attach Hin Yeun and Arthur helpfully held one of the wires out to her but she held up her wrist. "Still attached to the dream machine." She told him absentmindedly.

He was unable to hold back the twitch in his lips. She'd always called the Pasiv Dream Machine simply the 'dream machine', but she always made it sound like she was joking about something sexual.

"Ready?" Arthur asked, looking only at her, his finger already on the button. She didn't reply but merely wriggled her shoulders slightly and closed her eyes in response.

Recognising it as her lazy 'yes' he pressed the button and watched as the lower half of her arm flopped off the arm of the lounger as she fell unconscious.

Decked out in an expensive Chanel dress, Selena immediately began to seduce Hin Yeun, acting as though they'd been in the middle of a conversation.

On Mr Saito's orders she was to extract any information he had on an assassination that had been planned against the oriental man.

The decor in Yeun's subconscious that Ariadne had created was no surprise to Selena; she was in a typically expensive American hotel that looked very similar to a hotel Selena knew Mr Saito had stayed in several times; a place that Hin Yeun would've accompanied him to occasionally.

"Come to room 504 in 15 minutes." She purred in his ear just as she stole the keys to his safe from his trouser pockets.

With one last smouldering look at him she turned and walked away, her head held high as the male projections around her stared as men did in real life.

She knew where the safe was; in his bedroom where Yeun regarded himself as most successful.

No-one stopped her on her way and the hallway to his room was empty. With a gasp of dismay she realised neither of the keys on the ring opened his door; he must have kept it in a different place.

Hiding the set of keys in her bra she called out to the passing concierge who was hurrying past with a worried look on his face.

"Oh, excuse me." She said, turning up the sweet notes in her voice and giving a shy, embarrassed smile. "I'm afraid I've locked myself out! I would go down to reception, but my shoes are causing me rather a lot of pain." She lifted up her floor-length dress and flashed him a lot of her smooth legs, all under the pretence of showing him her high heels. "I don't suppose you could open the door for me, could you?" She asked, fluttering her eyelashes and widening her eyes.

The concierge simply blinked at her for a moment before smiling and looking her up and down as he replied. "Of course, Madam, and may I say you're looking lovely tonight." He said suavely, taking out his master key as he spoke.

"Oh, you're too kind." Selena said, hiding one of her blushing cheeks in her palm. "Thank you so much, Sir."

"My pleasure, Madam." He said, bowing her into the open room.

Serena gave him one last, shy smile before closing the door and opening the safe.

The more a person had to hide, the more complicated their safe which was why Yeun's was only padlocked. The man had dodgy dealings, but not the kind where millions of pounds were at stake.

She rolled her eyes when she realised there were hundreds of papers shoved into the safe haphazardly. Glancing at the clock on the wall she knew she only had a few minutes left; Saito had only given her 2 minutes in the real world and her twenty minutes was almost up.

A breeze chilled her as it came through the open balcony door and Serena listened half heartedly to the voices she could hear from a nearby balcony.

She froze for a moment before continuing to rummage through the papers as she heard Yeun's voice.

"I'm going up to her now." He said to a small group of men. "She wants me bad!" Selena resisted the urge to role her eyes at his typical boyishness. The same age as her, they had the same childish tendencies. "I'll just go get a load of condoms, first." This was followed by a guffaw of laughter and another freeze from Selena as she realised that he was coming up to his room.

Knowing she would not find the papers in time she flew about the room, opening draws and cupboards frantically in search of materials to create a home-made bomb.

Unscrewing the cap of a bottle of cologne she stuffed pads of cotton wool into it and searched hurriedly for a light. Finding nothing she was forced to grab the make-shift bomb and ran into the corridor, propping the door open with a suit jacket she'd pulled quickly from the wardrobe.

She ran back down the corridor, towards the lift and stairs and put the bottle down, over seven suites away from herself.

Returning to the room she heard a faint ping as the lift reached the floor. She closed the room door as much as possible in preparation and pulled her gun out of her garter, shooting at the bottle and hitting it in one she quickly whipped back into the room and shut the door as the bomb exploded, making fire consume the end of the corridor.

Knowing she had very little time left until the fire reached her she resumed her reading of the papers, almost half way through by the time the screaming of the projections reached her.

There was a great crashing as a portion of the building started to collapse and Selena berated herself as she realised that the plans were most likely to be at the bottom of the pile as they were one of Yeun's biggest secrets.

Finding an old fashioned mobile phone amongst the papers she quickly read through the first few texts until she came across one that contained nothing but a date and time.

4th May 15:00.

She paused as her brain processed the information.

Suddenly she picked up her gun and shot herself in the head, killing herself instantly and waking up quickly in the real world.

"Well?" Mr Saito asked from his seat to the side of her, by the silver case that linked her and Yeun. The entire team seemed to have assembled in the centre of the loft, Yusuf and Ariadne to see if she was as good as they'd been told and the others simply to check she had not lost her touch. Yeun was still asleep next to her; he had been set to dream for 10 minutes so that he could be moved if Selena was successful and never be aware of what had happened.

If he was innocent.

Selena disconnected herself and grabbed the gun around her thigh just as the loft door banged open. She shot without hesitation and the man in the balaclava fell to the ground before he had even managed to identify Mr Saito.

Everyone but Selena seemed to be paralysed with shock, all staring at the now fallen man.

"Come on then." She yelled out, getting up and trotting towards the door, her gun continuously pointed at the doorway.

Now that Selena was in danger Arthur suddenly pinged back to life, chasing after her and barrelling into her as she reached the doorway and a shot was fired at her.

It missed and the two careened into the ground, the shot continuing on through the door and hitting the lounging chair Selena had been on only moments ago.

She shot back instantly, despite being upside down underneath Arthur and hit the second assassin in the thigh. He let out a cry of pain and paused in his shooting to grasp at his bleeding leg. She shot again and hit him squarely in the chest. He fell back against the wall, sliding down it as gravity took over his life-less body.

After a lengthy pause Eames walked past and poked the man with his shoe before dragging him through the doorway and depositing him beside the other body.

"Did you…did you just shoot two people?" They all heard Ariadne ask quietly, her voice quivering with shock. Arthur finally got up, off his shielding position on top of Selena without a word to her. He held out a hand and pulled her up easily.

"If I hadn't, they'd have killed Saito and then the rest of us." She said crisply to Ariadne, dusting off her dress and putting her gun back in its place. "Oh, that was it." She said simply to Mr Saito who had regained the use of his legs.

"Impressive." Was all the older man said.

Cobb removed the balaclavas of the two, though Mr Saito did not recognise either of them and Chen radioed the rest of his security who were all waiting in the street below in two cars

Their footsteps were heard on the stairs as three of them ran to their boss, disbelief on their faces as they were confronted with the bodies of their boss' assassins.

"I feel I should give you a bonus for your good work." Saito said to Selena who merely raised her eyebrows with pleasure. Beside her Yeun stirred and Saito's security ran over, each pointing a gun at him.

"As you wish." She replied with a smile. "Now, if we're finished here, I'm going to take a shower." She said, wiping her hands on her skirt as though blood had splattered onto her.

She left immediately without even picking up her coat or bag and without looking at anyone.


End file.
